Definitely the parents. My middle child is on the autism spectrum but is very capable. Every time we ate out in public, people would always comment how well behaved my kids were. They knew not to act up. Went out Saturday with my oldest and his kids and he and his wife have no control.

When I take my grandkids out, they know to behave.

if the audio contains all the threats and insults from the dad, send it in to the FAA, seat location, flight, date time, and to the airline security office, should be enough for them to investigate and ban the dad from the airline or flying at all.

They very well could have had problem children with special needs, or they said that to shut others up, who knows.

Doesnt matter if he's threatening other passengers with physical harm...

Now you know the real reason the fed.gov does not allow firearms or knives onboard aircraft.

Gotta time the Benadryl to kick in on the ascent. Hopefully it lasts until landing.

quote:

Originally posted by two-two-niner-romeo:


And I would gladly pay extra for a ticket on a flight where all the passengers were 55 and older.

No you wouldn't, because several airlines have tried several variations of that, and they all have gone bankrupt. You might personally, but the average consumer will choose to save 20 dollars and take their chances with kids. The main parameter for most people is the ticket cost.

Generally speaking the odds of getting a screaming child are relatively low. I fly twice a week every week on the airlines and I only remember one flight this year that had a screaming child on it. Of course the kid screamed the entirety of the 2 plus hour flight. I had my Jabra noise cancelling ear buds in, watching a movie and only during the quiet parts did I faintly hear the kid. I felt sorry for anyone who did not have noise cancelling headsets. I always carry 2 ear buds, my noise cancelling work headset and plenty of ear plugs just in case.

"Shut up, or I'll give you something to cry about", used to work just fine.

And "special needs"? Ain't that the truth... The kids have a special need for parents who parent rather than coddle and enable.

I recently took an airline trip after not flying for many years. The airports were like zoos. What with delays, cancellations, numerous last minute gate changes, rude uncaring staff and outrageous fares, it appeared to me that the air travel experience elevated many people to a new level of pissed off. Before boarding the flying bus! if you can drive to your destination, do it!

Decades ago I travelled frequently for work on both domestic and international flights. Never once did I run into the kinds of situations we read/hear about these days, whether in the terminal or on board the flight. I may have to fly in September and am already dreading the prospect.

No, it is never appropriate to muzzle or cover kids. What is appropriate is to nurture, train, and protect them. Parents should have been ahead of it with chewing gum, valsalva, and letting the kids know ahead of time what to expect. Of course this is easier in a small plane where you can level off and work it out before continuing the descent, but there is a lot that can be done to help the kids better deal with it. Beyond that, a parent should instill in their kids the concept of respect for others so that however bad a time the kids are having, they’ll do their best not to take it out on others. And of course, when all that fails, the parents should model good behavior by apologizing profusely for the experience they’ve inflicted on their neighboring flyers by bringing along kids who aren’t ready for commercial air travel.

Sadly, boorish behavior seems to be more the rule than the exception these days. As (almost) always, doing one’s best to ignore the boorish behavior rather than engaging is the appropriate answer when subjected to such behavior. Good on you for encouraging the husband to make the right decision.

Often, neither kids nor parents can do anything about the overwhelming ear pain associated with descent. At best the parents may be able to plan ahead with the use of Benadryl, chewing gum etc and maybe reassuring the kids. As far as the prick in the back row who is complaing.....well he should have paid for a private charter. If he was complaing about my kid in pain, They would likely be hauling me off of the plane in cuffs. Situations like these are never pleasant, but it is the risk of flying cheap.(er)

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
Now you know the real reason the fed.gov does not allow firearms or knives onboard aircraft.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
No, it is never appropriate to muzzle or cover kids. What is appropriate is to nurture, train, and protect them. Parents should have been ahead of it with chewing gum, valsalva, and letting the kids know ahead of time what to expect. Of course this is easier in a small plane where you can level off and work it out before continuing the descent, but there is a lot that can be done to help the kids better deal with it. Beyond that, a parent should instill in their kids the concept of respect for others so that however bad a time the kids are having, they’ll do their best not to take it out on others. And of course, when all that fails, the parents should model good behavior by apologizing profusely for the experience they’ve inflicted on their neighboring flyers by bringing along kids who aren’t ready for commercial air travel.

Sadly, boorish behavior seems to be more the rule than the exception these days. As (almost) always, doing one’s best to ignore the boorish behavior rather than engaging is the appropriate answer when subjected to such behavior. Good on you for encouraging the husband to make the right decision.

This is a nicely thought out response.

And if the kid is so disabled that they cannot control their reaction, they should not fly.

The wife and I were flying back from Maui and a child with Tourette's syndrome and his parents were sitting one row ahead of us. The kid would suddenly start screaming cuss words really loud. Mom and dad were always trying to calm the kid down when it happened. Both parents explained the issue to everyone in the aisles 4 ahead and 4 behind their seats after the second cussing incident. It was pissing me off at first but after a calm and non threatening explanation (apology almost) from both parents all was well. Fuck the two parents you saw Benny6. The kids weren't the problem.

Supposedly, Aeroflot (Soviet Airline) used to have sound proof drawers for crying infants. These kids are likely to large for those drawers, but they could probably be upsized.

I keep telling people- the answer to the problem is tubes. Place each passenger in their own personal tube. The passengers can then be loaded like cargo, thus allowing for a larger seating err tubing capacity. You can stack 'em to the ceiling. With no interaction, there's no friction, no problems.

Pack 'em, rack 'em, stack 'em, load 'em....TOOBZ!!

There was a time when people were more respectful.

People with young kids, especially those that were fussy or challenging did not fly, they drove.

Children were not taken to restaurants until they could prove they could behave. If they didn't, they were marched out to sit in the car or the family left. They didn't return until the kids proved they could behave.

If a kid misbehaved in a store, outside to the car they went and IF they came back inside, they were a LOT better behaved.

"Don't you DARE embarrass me in this store" was not uncommon to hear.

Today's parents seem seem to feel they can do whatever they want and go anywhere with their little hellspawn. If they start going nuts, how dare everyone else react!!! How dare you express any dismay at my unruly, wild, uncontrollable child ruining your nice quite dinner on the one night every few months that you can finally get alone with your spouse.

In this case, I don't blame the kids I blame the parents. Those kids can't control the pressure change and it hurts, they only know to scream and cry. The parents had no business taking the kids on that flight.

If these are kids that go into full nuclear meltdown if they can't get their tablet, their binky, or a game on their phone to work the parents are to blame again. You have no business taking your little time bomb on a plane knowing full well at some point that little brat is going to go absolutely nuts.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I keep telling people- the answer to the problem is tubes. Place each passenger in their own personal tube. The passengers can then be loaded like cargo, thus allowing for a larger seating err tubing capacity. You can stack 'em to the ceiling. With no interaction, there's no friction, no problems.

Pack 'em, rack 'em, stack 'em, load 'em....TOOBZ!!

I was flying somewhere a LONG time ago, I think the last time I ever put up with TSA idiots and an 8-10 yr old kid behind me started kicking my seat before takeoff.
I turned around and asked the kid to stop doing that. (Mom said to little shit “Stop that!”)
30 seconds later it starts again.
This is a 2 hour flight.
I got up out of my seat and loomed over Mom and child and said to mom in my “Command Voice”, ”If you don’t stop him from kicking my seat, I WILL!!” Both were wide eyed but there wasn’t another bump the whole flight.

I don’t fly anymore. I drive. My music at my volume, eat and drink what I want and my gun is in my waistband.

quote:

Supposedly, Aeroflot (Soviet Airline) used to have sound proof drawers for crying infants.

I keep noise canceling AirPods with me when I fly. Can’t blame the kids. Can’t blame the parents most times.